News Release

Tuesday, January 11, 2005

Joint Agency Task Force Arrest Murder Suspect from 1987

Los Angeles: North Hollywood Homicide detectives are announcing the arrest of a 1987 Los Angeles murder suspect, who was captured in the City of New Orleans. The arrest occurred this morning, January 11, 2005, at about 7:30 a.m. Los Angeles Police Detectives, along with the United States Marshals and New Orleans Police, arrested 47 year-old David Wayne Gormley at his residence in the 600 block of Marigny Street, New Orleans. The arrest was pursuant to a California murder warrant dating back to an April 19, 1987 murder of 42 year-old Charles Eugene Nover. Gormley will remain in a New Orleans jail, pending an extradition hearing.

At the time of the murder, the victim, Mr. Nover, was a bartender at the Spotlight Bar, located at 1601 North Cahuenga Boulevard. He formed a relationship with a David A. Phillips, who moved into Nover's apartment, located at 11664 Chandler Boulevard. On April 22, 1987, the body of Charles Nover was discovered inside his apartment, strangled and nude.

The subsequent investigation pointed to David A. Phillips, but detectives had only his name and a composite sketch to go on. Detectives had little hopes of finding Phillips.

In January 2004, a break in this case came during a routine due-diligence check on the warrant. Detectives discovered a line in the murder file that indicated a "David A. Phillips" had received medical treatment at County USC Medical Center around the time of the murder. This Phillips had given his social security number for treatment. Detectives investigated the social security number and discovered it belonged to a man named David Wayne Gormley, who was a match for the composite drawing. Witnesses picked Gromley out of a photo line up. Armed with this information, detectives obtained an arrest warrant and eventually located Gromley, aka David A. Phillips, living in New Orleans.

This news release was prepared by the Los Angeles Police Department's Media Relations Section, at 213-485-3586.